Remember My First
by LoLoGreeneVines
Summary: Petunia is jealous that Lily has been accepted at Hogwarts and she hasn't, so she writes to Dumbledore pleading for a place.
1. Chapter 1

Petunia Evans opened her door a crack, glancing up and down the landing to check on her parents' and sister's bedroom doors. The light was off, which was a good sign. Her parents' door was shut and there was no sliver of light along the bottom of the frame. Good, that meant they were asleep. Petunia noticed that the door opposite hers, that of her little sister, Lily's, bedroom was wide open. This wasn't terribly helpful, however, as Lily tended to sleep with her bedroom door wide open.

Petunia squinted into the darkness and made out the faint silhouette of a bump under Lily's duvet. Petunia knew that her sister liked to read under the duvet by night, particularly since their parents had taken her on a trip up to London to buy all of those magic books, but it didn't look like there was a faint light shining through the covers. Sure enough, Petunia inched across the landing and poked her head around her little sister's doorframe, only to hear the reassuring sound of slow, steady breathing that confirmed Lily to be asleep.

Petunia returned quietly to her own bedroom, careful to make no noise closing the door. It would not do to wake her family up.

Sitting down at her wooden desk, Petunia switched on her table light and took a clean sheet of paper and her favourite pen out of her desk drawer. Inordinately glad that her year ten teacher had recently reiterated the proper way to write a formal letter, Petunia put her pen to paper and started to write.

* * *

_5 Meadow Lane,_

_Spinner's Hamlet,_

_Wrexham,_

_Clwyd,_

_Wales._

_8 July, 1971_

_Dear Sir/Madam,_

_I am writing to you to enquire about your educational establishment, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My younger sister (Lily Evans) has been offered a place, and she starts in September, but I hadn't heard anything about magic running in the family before one of your staff visited our family informing our parents about my sister's scholarship last month._

_I was just wondering if there was any possibility that I might also attend your school, that maybe I have the necessary qualities? I'm sure that I would do Hogwarts proud, I am a good student, I always do my homework on time and I get on well with my teachers. English is my favourite subject but I'm sure I would be able to keep up with any new subjects that might be on the timetable._

_I know that you most likely have a fairly full register, I heard your staff telling my parents that you educate children all over the UK and such a wonderful sounding school is surely in high demand, but if a space happens to come up please would you consider me for it?_

_Thank you very much for reading my request, I eagerly await your response._

_Yours faithfully,_

_Petunia Evans._

* * *

Petunia re-read what she had written. Perhaps it wasn't the most professional-sounding letter that had ever been written, but thinking it was polite and adequately communicated her point, Petunia decided that perhaps the fact that her desperation had creeped in slightly didn't matter in the overall scheme of things: after all, she _did_ feel desperate.

Deciding that she was fairly pleased with her efforts and she wouldn't be able to rewrite it to be any better in the circumstances, Petunia folded the sheet of paper carefully and put it into an envelope, carefully attaching a first-class stamp she had stolen from her mother's handbag to the upper-right hand corner of the envelope.

Petunia stared at the blank envelope, unsure of exactly what to put on it. Petunia was certain that such an elite class of people that wielded magic wands must not bother with the Royal Mail, that they must be able to wave their wand and have their letters delivered to the intended recipient immediately, so how would somebody with no wand ensure that their letter reached its destination? Where in the world WAS Hogwarts located, anyway?

Eventually, Petunia decided to just write "The headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" on the front, put it in a post box and hope for the best.

Knowing that the best time to post the letter would be now, when nobody was around to see her, Petunia put on her pink dressing gown and slippers, hiding the letter in her pocket in case she ran into any member of her family on the landing, switched off her light and quietly opened her door. Careful not to step on Snapdragon, the family cat (so-named for her foul temper and readiness to lash-out or snap at anybody who stroked her when she didn't want to be touched) who was stretched out on the landing, Petunia crept down the stairs towards the front door. Opening the door, Petunia stepped out into the balmy summer air and glanced towards the post box ten yards down the road. Grateful that the full moon provided enough light to ensure that she would not trip over the roughly-laid pavement, and that the post box was in such close proximity to her front door, Petunia nervously dashed to the box, posted the letter, and ran back home. Even in the light of the full moon, Petunia was nervous about being outside on her own in the dark.

Locking the front door behind her, Petunia sneaked back upstairs, dodged the sleeping cat and hurriedly entered her room again. She hung up her dressing gown, put her pen back in the drawer and went to bed, hoping against hope that the Hogwarts headteacher would write back to her soon.

* * *

**Author's notes: GAH. Sorry about the address formatting, apparently FF doesn't want me to put it on the right-hand side. Just pretend it is in the proper place. It'll presumably be the same for Dumbledore's response, but Dumbledore can better get away with being eccentric I suppose.**

**This is part of my collective August Camp NaNoWriMo writing.**


	2. Chapter 2

A week later Petunia was sat at her desk , reading a Jennings book and wondering whether Hogwarts would be much like the Linbury Court Preparatory School described in the novel. She hoped it would be: she had been reading the novels ever since the stern-looking woman with her hair in a bun had visited and spoken to their parents and the hijinks and frivolity Jennings and his friends got up to sounded really rather fun. _Of course,_ Petunia thought, _it would be even more fun if you could use magic..._

Then again, if she didn't receive a response soon there was no chance at all of her going. Petunia pushed this thought aside and returned to _Jennings and Darbishire._

After the Evans family had finished their evening meal that night, Petunia ascended the stairs to her bedroom and shut the door behind her. Walking over to her desk to continue reading the book, Petunia heard a faint tapping noise coming from her window and saw a strange silhouette through the blinds she had shut before dinner, in order to stop the blistering sun from turning her room into an oven while she was away.

What on earth could the noise be? Petunia entertained the notion of a burglar for a minute and contemplated running to fetch her father, but then surely the silhouette would be larger. Could it be that idiot Mark from across the road playing a joke on her? That seemed the most likely. Petunia drew herself up to her full height and strode across her room, angrily pulling the blinds aside to tell the prankster to _go away_, and stumbled back a few steps, disbelieving the sight she was greeted by.

Perched on the windowsill was a handsome tawny owl, its head cocked to one side, regarding Petunia with a most impatient expression and an envelope tied to one leg. Petunia stared at the bird for a few seconds and the bird stared back, unblinkingly, before tapping on the window with its beak again.

Coming to her senses, Petunia cautiously made her way back to the window and slowly opened it, keeping her eye on the owl the entire time. The owl hopped inside and perched on the wooden desk, still looking at Petunia and dutifully holding out the leg with the envelope tied to it. Petunia approached the bird and carefully untied the envelope, which she now saw was made of parchment, before the owl hooted quietly (Petunia dearly hoped that her family hadn't heard the noise) and dipped its beak into her glass of water for a minute before taking off and flying out of the open window, turning right and disappearing over the town.

Petunia read the envelope and immediately became excited at the sight of the emerald green ink reading

_Petunia Evans_

_The second bedroom,_

_5 Meadow Lane,_

_Spinner's Hamlet,_

_Wrexham._

Petunia turned the envelope over and saw a wax seal with an ornate crest that could only have belonged to The School, decorated with a lion, a snake, an eagle and a badger. Letting out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding, Petunia opened her desk draw and took out an old-fashioned letter-opener she had inherited when her grandfather died last year, carefully slitting the envelope open and being careful to leave the beautiful wax seal intact. Sliding the inside parchment out, Petunia set the envelope aside and started to read.

* * *

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_13 July, 1971_

_Dear Petunia,_

_I am writing to you in response to your letter requesting consideration for a place at Hogwarts School and witchcraft and Wizardry. As much as I would dearly love to tell you otherwise, I am terribly sorry to inform you that it would not be possible for you to attend Hogwarts. As Professor McGonagall explained to your parents, only those who are born with magical powers are even able to see the castle for what it is, and seeing as your birth wasn't picked up by the Magical Quill (the instrument that records the birth of a magical child on our registers) the conclusion would be that you were not born with the necessary powers._

_However, do not despair! The non-magic world is just as important, if not more so, than the magical one. I have long argued that if it weren't for the prevalent non-magic community, neither world would be able to exist. Those who are not born witches and wizards play a vital role in ensuring the continued survival of the two worlds and bring their own unique skills to the smooth running of the planet._

_For example, I was very impressed by the maturity of your letter and how well it was written. The non-magic world needs your English skills, Petunia! You say it's your favourite subject, but as one not on the Hogwarts curriculum it is important that there are people like you in the non-magic world who have a talent for the subject to bring that particular skill to the table to help the world. Things would work very badly if there was nobody skilled in the art of discourse through the written medium, and if your calling is to ensure the smooth running of the world through eloquence on paper, that is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of and you ought to be proud of your potential contribution._

_I wish you all the best with your writing endeavours and once again apologise that I must turn down your request. I would love to be able to give everyone everything they ask for, but alas, it's out of my hands, and sometimes it's best for everyone if some wishes aren't granted. I hope you appreciate that fact._

_Yours most sincerely,_

_Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore._

* * *

Petunia blinked fiercely, trying to prevent the tears forming in her eyes from spilling over down her cheeks. Flinging the parchment into her draw haphazardly and storing the Jennings novel she was halfway through firmly at the back of her bookcase, Petunia succumbed to her tears and threw herself down onto her bed, quietly crying into her pillow and trying to tell herself that she didn't want to go to the same school as her freak sister and the weird Snape boy anyway.


End file.
